The present invention broadly relates to a new and improved construction of an apparatus for feeding cartridges to an automatic firing weapon.
In its more specific aspects, the present invention relates to a new and improved construction of a deflector wheel or sprocket for feeding cartridges to an automatic multi-barrel cannon or firing weapon comprising a rotating array of barrels. The deflector wheel or sprocket transfers the conveyed or delivered cartridges from the endless conveyor belt or chain to the multi-barrel cannon or firing weapon. The deflector wheel or sprocket comprises a predetermined number of uniformly spaced recesses or pockets at its circumference for accommodating the cartridges.
In a heretofore known cartridge feeding apparatus of this type (see U.S. Pat. No. 2,993,415, granted July 25, 1961) the cartridges are likewise fed to a multi-barrel cannon or gun having a rotating array of barrels by means of an endless conveyor belt. However, in lieu of a deflector wheel or sprocket deflecting the conveyor belt or chain for feeding the cartridges to the multi-barrel cannon or gun, and extractor wheel or sprocket shifts the cartridges off the conveyor belt or chain for conveying them to the weapon. In this extraction process, the cartridges must be accelerated, since the pitch of the conveyor belt or chain is considerably less than the corresponding spacing between individual firing barrels of the rotating array of barrels. In accordance with the short pitch of the conveyor belt or chain, the cartridges move considerably slower than the peripheral speed of the rotating weapon barrels (the speed relationship between the delivered cartridges and the rotating array of firing barrels is, for instance, exemplified in FIG. 2 of the present application). The extractor wheel or sprocket accelerates the cartridges up to the peripheral speed of the rotating array of barrels.
In another heretofore known embodiment of a cartridge feeding arrangement of this type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,437,005, granted Apr. 8, 1969, cartridges are fed to a multi-barrel cannon or gun by means of a screw conveyor rather than by an endless conveyor belt or chain. Instead of a deflector wheel or sprocket deflecting the conveyor belt or chain, an extractor wheel or sprocket conveys the cartridges from the screw conveyor to the individual barrels of the gun or firing weapon. The disadvantage of this arrangement lies in the requisite abrupt acceleration of the cartridges since the peripheral speed o the extractor wheel or sprocket is equivalent to the peripheral speed of the array of barrels, while the cartridges within the screw conveyor move at a much slower rate corresponding to the smaller spacing prevailing between individual cartridges.